Warning: Be Careful When Walking Your Dog In Alligator Country
Read Time:1 Minute, 11 Second
Tom Beeson has read up a bit on alligator attacks, and he knows what to do if you find yourself in one—and a good thing because he was able to put that knowledge to use this week.
Tom and Jake, his 8-year-old chocolate Lab, were taking a stroll Tuesday near a pond behind a middle school in Holiday, Florida. Jake stopped for a moment to check out something on the ground. Before he knew what was happening, an alligator lurched out of the water and pulled Jake in.
Tom wasted no time implementing the gator tips he’d learned. He stuck his thumb in the animal’s eye and picked it up out of the water so it couldn’t swim away with Jake in its mouth.
The man and dog finally broke free when a nurse from the nearby middle school helped bandage the injured man.
He had to get stitches on his left hand—the gator had repeatedly bitten him as he tried to free his beloved dog, who also suffered multiple bites. Fortunately, neither was seriously hurt.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission warns that alligator attacks are not uncommon and everyone should be careful when walking near bodies of water. Even small ponds and puddles can house an alligator on the hunt for a meal.
Happy
33 %
Sad
33 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
33 %
0
0
A 9 foot gator is HUGE and 7 feet is damned big and can weigh over 200 pounds. The guy took an amazing risk, but you know – it’s his dog. People who live in these parts soon learn that you don’t walk your dog or your kids or yourself close to ponds and canals or even golf course water traps. for short distances of maybe 30 feet, a gator can outrun almost anything and they have a bite measured in tons. Man and dog are very lucky here.
They certainly were, and I would absolutely do the same to save one of my dogs.